We're looking today again in
Matthew chapter 12 as we continue our journey through the gospel
written by a publican named Matthew. I'm using for a title some of
the words found in verse 31 and verse 32. Let's read again Matthew
12 verse 31. You've got it there? Wherefore,
I say unto you, come from no higher source. He speaks with all authority.
He speaks absolute truth. It's impossible for God to lie.
All manner of sin. All sorts of sin. And, he adds,
evil speaking, blasphemy, shall be forgiven unto men. Well, I like that. Shall be forgiven. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost
shall not be forgiven unto men. That's evil speaking against
the Holy God. Verse 32, and whatsoever or whosoever
speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. but
whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost. And when we think
of the Holy Ghost, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one God, manifest
in three distinct persons. So to speak against the Father
is to speak against the Son. To speak against the Holy Spirit
is against the Father and the Son. These are one. It shall
not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world
to come. So I'm taking the title from
what is said there in verse 31 and verse 32. What is this unpardonable
sin? Now, probably, I've been asked
this question more than any other question. I've been in the ministry
for more than 40 years, and I probably get this question more than any
other question. Preacher, what is that unpardonable
sin? What is that unpardonable sin?
Well, I hope we can answer that question. I hope we can answer
that question from the Word of God. What is the sin for which
there is no forgiveness? What is that sin for which there
is no pardon, no deliverance, no redemption? And as I said, I get this question
more than any other question. What is that sin that I cannot
be forgiven of? Many people are afraid that they've
committed this terrible sin against God for which they cannot be
forgiven. I think many people are fearful
that they have done this. Well, I can assure you this,
if you have committed this horrible sin against God, you would not
be here today. You would not be here this morning
seeking to worship the Lord, seeking to hear a word from God
Almighty through the mediator of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
your heart would be hardened and your conscience would be
seared. You would have no interest in seeking the truth or knowing
God in truth. If you have committed such a
horrible and evil sin as this, Your conscience would not condemn
you before the holy law of God because your conscience would
not accuse you of being guilty. You would be like the Pharisees
who condemned the Lord Jesus Christ and accused him of being
the prince of devils instead of the prince of life, instead
of the prince of peace. These Pharisees justified themselves
and condemned the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what they said
here in verse 24? But when the Pharisees heard
how this blind and dumb man who was demon possessed was completely
healed and set free, they said, this is the work of the devil. They attributed the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ to the devil. That is blasphemy against God. They justified themselves and
condemned the Lord Jesus Christ. In essence, they were saying,
this man, Jesus of Nazareth, he's in league with the devil.
The truth of the matter was, they were in league with the
devil. Because he said, you are of your
father the devil. He calls them in verse 34, did
you notice? Oh, generation of vipers. Down
in verse 39, he calls these same people an evil and adulterous
generation. You see that in verse 39, Matthew
12. And then turn the page, the last
part of verse 45, he said, even shall it shall be so also unto
this wicked generation. So, these Pharisees who thought
themselves to be saints, they were far from Saints, they were
Satan's servants. Now, all manner of sin, all kinds
of sin, small or great, secret or open, I've skipped a page.
Back one page. I'll get to that statement in
just a minute. Back to page two. From our study here in Matthew
12, when the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced judgment on these
Pharisees, it was because they vehemently denied him that he
was the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of David. Remember, the
people said, this is the Messiah. They were amazed. They said,
uh-uh, he's a devil. He's a devil. The Lord pronounced
judgment on these Pharisees because they vehemently denied that he
was the promised Messiah, the Christ of God. They denied what
God had done when he healed this possessed man. The Pharisees
had committed this unpardonable sin because they attributed the
mercy of God to the devil. Now, having said that, let's
start with the good news first. You want to hear the good news
before you hear the bad news? The wages of sin is death, that's
the bad news. The good news is the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But the Lord
begins with the good news of the gospel, verse 31, wherefore
I say unto you, now there was a multitude of sinners that were
amazed. All manner of sin, all manner
of sin, now you just name it. Sin is the transgression of the
law. Sin is the transgression of the law. We've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God. But all manner of sin, and
even evil speaking, shall be forgiven unto men. Well, that's
good news, isn't it? Shall be forgiven unto men. All
manner of sin. Now, here's the good news of
the gospel. Here's the promise of the Lord
to His children. With Him, with Him, He is the
Savior of sinners. He came to save sinners from
their sin. With Him, there is forgiveness.
We study a psalm often, and studied this recently, Psalm 130, where
the question is asked, If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities,
who shall stand? If the Lord marks my iniquities,
I can't stand. But there is forgiveness with
thee, that thou mayest be worshipped." With the Lord there is forgiveness. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. That's the only reason
we have forgiveness of sin, because he paid our debt. That's what
happened at Calvary. When he by himself purged our
sin, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with his own blood,
he entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us, and he ascended to glory, and he's seated in the heavenlies
as our mediator, as our advocate. as our intercessor for us. That's
the reason we have the forgiveness of sin. Believers enjoy, right
now, right now, believers enjoy the full pardon and complete
deliverance from all our sin because his blood cleanses us
from all my sin, all my sin. You see, for the believer, he
has no sin because he's in Christ. Christ put away his sin. We started
our study in Matthew chapter 1. Remember the promise? The
messenger that was dispatched from the throne of glory told
Joseph and Mary that you should call his name Savior Jesus for
he shall save his people from their sins. Did he do it? Absolutely, he did. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all our sin. That's good
news. That's good news. John puts it
this way, if we say that we have no sin, singular sin, if we say
we have no sin nature, no guilt, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness. He's faithful and he's just to
forgive our sins based upon the blood atonement of Jesus Christ,
making full payment for our sin. The Apostle Paul, in his first
sermon on his first missionary journey, In the book of Acts
it's recorded, he said to these people, be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, the God-man
mediator, through this man who has preached to you the forgiveness
of sin, and by him all that believe are justified from all things,
which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. By him all
that believe are justified from all things. which you could not,
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified." That
includes here all manner of sin. All manner of sin. All kinds
of sin. Original sin, in Adam, O, God. Actual sin. Actual sin. Sin that we've committed against
God. All kinds of sin. Whether we say that they're small
sin, there is no such thing as small sin. Some people categorize
as such. Small sin or great sin, secret
sin or open sin, past sin, present sin, future sins, what I am and
what I've done, sin of heart, lip, and life, all sin for the
believer has been put away in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even evil
words spoken against the Son of Man, out of ignorance, as
it says there in verse 32, and whosoever speaketh a word against
the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. Even evil words spoken against
the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, out of ignorance, because
they did not know, did not know that he was the promised Messiah.
I'll give you an example of that. The proud Pharisee turned to
1 Timothy. Can you find 1 Timothy chapter,
is it chapter 1? I believe it is chapter 1, 1
Timothy chapter 1. You remember that proud Pharisee
named Saul of Tarsus? He was one of those Pharisees
and he spoke terrible words against the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of Man, but he was forgiven. And here's the reason why he
was one of God's chosen. First Timothy chapter 1, he said
verse 12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who enabled me for that
he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry who was
before a blasphemer. Well, there's a blasphemer who
found forgiveness. He was a persecutor. He was one
who caused injury unto death. He had believers put to death. But I obtained mercy because
I did it ignorantly. I did it in unbelief. And the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant with faith
and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying,
and this is worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. So there was an ignorant Pharisee
who blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ, and he was forgiven by
the sovereign mercy and grace of God. All sin forgiven. only through the Lord Jesus Christ,
who paid our debt. He paid our debt in full with
His own blood. I like this scripture in Ephesians
chapter 1, where it says, We are accepted in the Beloved,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace. according to the
riches of His grace, in whom we have, we have right now, the
total forgiveness of all our sins. As believers, now if you're
not a believer, He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not in the Son shall not see
life, but the wrath of God abides on him. We are redeemed with
the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not with the blood
of bulls and goats, but with the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We are redeemed, not with corruptible
things, silver and gold, vain tradition, but with the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, there's the good news. There
is forgiveness of sin. There is pardon from all sin. Sinners are justified freely
by His grace through the redeeming blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, verse 31, this blasphemy
against the Holy God shall not be forgiven. Men, Verse 32, you speak a word against
the Son of Man, that will be forgiven. But whosoever speaks
against the Holy God, it shall not be forgiven him neither in
this world nor in the world to come. So then, what is this horrible
sin of blasphemy against the Holy God, against the Holy Spirit,
against the Holy Son, against the Triune God, in which there
is no pardon, no hope of salvation, no forgiveness, no deliverance
from sin? Listen. It is to vehemently,
consistently reject the only hope of salvation. If you reject
the only hope of salvation, there is no other hope. That
is the total and willful unbelief against the Holy Spirit concerning
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in John chapter
16, when the Holy Spirit has come, the Comforter has come,
the Spirit of truth, Our Lord said, He'll take the things of
mine and show them unto you. It is to vehemently, consistently
reject the only hope of salvation found in Christ. It is to know
that Jesus Christ is the Lord of salvation and yet willfully,
openly, deliberately reject Him and refuse Him to bow to His
Lordship. Remember what they said about
the Lord Jesus Christ? Away with Him. Crucify Him. We have no King but Caesar. Boy,
they just committed that unpardonable sin. There is no hope of salvation. To refuse to submit to the only
righteousness revealed in the gospel, and to go about to establish
the righteousness of your own by your own deeds, you have committed
that impartable sin. And if you die in your sin, the
Lord said, you cannot come. where I am. Those who refuse
to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You remember
what he said in verse 30, Matthew 12. He that's not with me is
against me. He that gathers not with me scatters
abroad. There is no middle ground. You
cannot straddle a fence here. You're either with the Lord Jesus
Christ, you're either all in or you're all out. You cannot
have it both ways. Believers look to Christ alone.
There's no neutral ground. If there's only forgiveness of
sin in Christ, then to cast that away leaves you with no hope
of salvation but eternal death. Our Lord said this in John 8.
the same people who said, who accused the Lord of this blasphemy,
who accused the Lord of working the work of God in the name of
the devil. Our Lord said to them, you are
from beneath, I am from above. You're of this world. I'm not
of this world. I said therefore unto you that
you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I
am you shall die in your sin. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. When the Holy
Spirit comes in quickening, regenerating, revealing grace, He takes the
things of Christ and convinces us totally that Christ is everything
in salvation, that Christ is all and in all. Those who knowingly,
willfully commit this awful sin against God, are given over to
a reprobate mind, their heart has become so gospel-hardened
against God that it will never repent, it will never believe,
it will never receive mercy. Gospel-hardened. their conscience
seared with a hot iron. Now, I can give you an example
of that. Turn to the book of Jude. We'll look at two examples
here. The book of Jude, that's right
before the revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jude, and there's
just one chapter, so look at verse 1. Jude, verse 1. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ,
the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the
Father, preserved in Christ Jesus, and called, mercy unto you and
peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, when I gave all diligence
to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you and to exhort you that you should earnestly
contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints.
Now look at verse four carefully. For there are certain men which
crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men, turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, denying
the Lord, denying the only Lord God, our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance
that though you once knew this, How that the Lord, having saved
the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward were destroyed,
he destroyed them that believed not. So here's what these ungodly
men did. They said that this salvation
by the sovereign grace of God, salvation that's found only in
the Lord Jesus Christ, they turned it on its head and said it's
an evil thing. That's blasphemy against God. And if you die in your sin, you
cannot come where I am. Many people, turn to another
scripture here. You find 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 it is. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, let
me read this to you in 1 Timothy 4. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, doctrines of devil, speaking
lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot
iron. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2,
here's what happens when God is gives them up to a reprobate
mind. Here's what happened in the description
of those who speak evil. against the gospel of God. 2
Thessalonians 2 verse 7, For the mystery of iniquity doth
already work, only he who now letteth will let, until he be
taken out of the way. And then shall the wicked be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming,
even him whose working whose coming is after the working of
Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness, and them that perish, and them that perish
because they receive not the love of the truth that they might
be saved. Read on. And for this cause God
shall send them strong delusions that they should believe a lie,
that they all might be damned who believed not to truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness. One more verse, two more verses.
There's the bad news, but here again is the good news. But we
are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who receive not
the love of the truth that they might be saved, God will send
them strong delusions that they'll believe Satan's lie. that salvation
depends upon you rather than Christ alone. Now, here's the
last thing I want us to look at here, and I've got a few minutes
left. In verse 33 down to verse 37. Let's read this in Matthew
chapter 12. Verse 33, either make the tree
good or his fruit good. The tree, good. The fruit is
good. Or else, or else make the tree
corrupt and its fruit corrupt. The tree is known by the fruit. We know it's an apple tree because
in the springtime we have blooms and in the fall, Lord willing,
we have an apple. Oh, verse 34, you generation
of vipers. How can you, being evil, speak
good things? For out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh. The good man, out of the good
treasure of the heart, bringeth forth good things. An evil man
out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say
unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give an account unto God in the day of judgment, before the judgment
seat of Christ. For by your words you'll be justified,
and by your words you'll be condemned. Be careful what you say. When
they read your Miranda rights, you remember what they say? Be
careful what you say. It may be used in a court of
law against you. So be careful what you say. Be
careful what you do. Spoken words are the revealer
of the heart. Well, out of the heart, we demonstrate
and exhibit the thoughts of our mind, don't we? Someone said,
I'm going to speak my mind. Boy, watch out. You may be in
trouble. You may want to take out your
hearing aids. A good, healthy tree brings forth
right fruit, good fruit. Souls renewed and regenerated
by the Spirit of God, those saved by the grace of God, give all
the glory to God for salvation that's of the Lord, don't they?
God forbid I see glory saved in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The corrupt tree, those who are still in the bondage
of corruption, the bondage of their sinful nature, who are
going about to establish their righteousness by their own doing,
their own morality, and have not owned and submitted to the
Lord Jesus Christ as all their salvation, all they bring forth
is evil fruit, because the heart is desperately wicked. Who can
know it? The tree, he says, there is known
by its fruit. The person reveals the state
of his own heart by the words he speaks. Evil words are products
of an evil heart. Now, turn a couple pages to Matthew
15. We're going to see this when
we get over here to Matthew 15. In Matthew chapter 15, these
Pharisees were all upset because the disciples didn't wash their
hands when they ate. And the Lord says to them, and
he says to Peter and the disciples, he said to them, leave them alone,
they'd be blind, leaders of the blind, verse 14, and to blind
lead the blind to all fall into the ditch. Matthew 15, 14, then
answered Peter and said unto him, declare unto us this parable. And he said, are you also without
understanding? Do you not understand that whatsoever
enter into the mouth goes into the belly and is cast out into
the drought, into the sewer. But those things which proceed
out of the mouth, they come forth from the heart, and they defile
the man. For the heart proceeds evil thoughts,
murders, adultery, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile
the man. But to eat with unwashing hands, That's not going to defile
your soul. Now, it's a good thing before
you eat to wash your hands, right? But it's not what you put in
your mouth that defiles you, it's what comes out of the well
of the heart. Out of the well of the heart. Now, verse 34, he says, oh, Matthew
12, 34, oh, generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, having
an evil heart, speak anything that's good. For out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaks. The people thought these scribes
and Pharisees were a generation of saints. Our Lord Jesus Christ
called them a generation of snakes, evil men in league with the devil. You remember the apostle writes
about that in 2 Corinthians 11. For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it's no
great thing if his ministers be transformed as ministers of
righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds,
whose end shall be according to their works. These who are
ministers of righteousness, they preach salvation by your morality,
or by your church doing, your church giving, your church works,
or different things. Our Lord plainly says of these
people, you are of your father, the devil. The lust of your father
will you do. He was a murderer from the beginning.
He bowed not in the truth because there's no truth in him. When
he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he's a liar and
a father of it. Verse 35 in our text, Matthew
12. A good man, out of the good treasure
of the heart, bringeth forth good things. Now, remember that
scripture where it says there's none righteous, no not one. There is none good, no not one. So how can by nature we have
no goodness? The only way that he can call
us good as we are one with Christ. Our Lord said, I'm well pleased
with my father. or my father's well pleased with
me. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. A good
man out of a good treasure of the heart, he gives us a new
heart in regenerating grace, brings forth good things. We'll
give him all the honor and glory or the salvation of our soul,
don't we? But an evil man, out of an evil treasure, He brings
evil things. He says that my salvation is
based upon my performance, on my work, my doing, my duties,
my giving, my church going, my baptism, or whatever it may be,
rather than saying Christ alone. Christ is all. We're complete
in Christ. Those who speak of the great
things they have done Verse 36 and verse 37, But I say unto
you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
an account thereof in the day of judgment. For by your words
you'll be justified, or by your words you'll be condemned. What
you speak before God. Those who speak of great things
they have done to earn their salvation in order to justify
themselves before Christ shall hear him say, depart from me,
I never knew you. You remember, turn back to Matthew
7. Remember those Pharisees, what they said? Matthew 7 verse
21. Many will say unto me, verse
22, saying to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in your name? And have we not cast out devils,
and in thy name done many wonderful works? Well, that sounds good,
doesn't it? By your word, you'll be condemned
or justified. The words they spoke, he said,
then I will profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from
me, you that just work iniquity. Their words they spoke condemned
them, didn't they? They were trusting what they
had done rather than Christ alone. Those sinners saved by the grace
of God, speak about the great things Christ had done for us.
They demonstrate they have been justified by the grace of God
because they say that salvation is of the Lord and that God saved
me by His grace. They don't say things like, well,
you know, I made my decision. Salvation, a decision is not
salvation. We are accepted in the beloved.
were justified freely by His grace. There is therefore now
no condemnation to those who were in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is
Christ that died, yea rather, is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God." And here's what believers say. It's recorded
in the Revelation chapter 1, unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sin and his own blood, to him be all the honor and glory
both now and forever. Isn't that our testimony? It's
unto him who loved us. It's unto him who washed us.
It's unto him who chose us. It's not, you know, I've been
a good boy. I paid my tithes. I paid my taxes. I've been a good citizen, I've
joined the church, I've done all these things, rather than
saying unto Him who loved us, unto Him He loved us with everlasting
love, unto Him who washed us, He washed us in His blood, to
Him be all the honor and glory, both now and forever and ever. It is written in Isaiah 45, As I live, saith the Lord, every
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then, writing in Romans chapter
14, so then every one of us shall give an account of himself unto
God. What's the believer's account?
What's our account? Paid in full. Accepted in the
beloved. To stand on any other ground
is what? Sinking sand. Sinking sand. We stand, as believers, we stand
on burnt ground. Burnt ground. Did I ever tell
you that story about the burnt ground? Braxton will enjoy this story.
Back years ago, when they had the Great Migration on the Oregon
Trail, remember? 1840-something to to when they had the railroad
in 1869. Thousands and thousands of people started there across
the Missouri River in St. Joe, Missouri, and they went
across the Great Plains. And oftentimes, they would send
out an outrider for a wagon train so they could travel safely.
And oftentimes, that outrider would come back and said, there's
fire ahead. There's a great prairie fire raging, and they could see
the smoke, and they started to smell the smoke. You know what
they'd do? This is a true story. Here's
what they'd do. The wagon master would go out
ahead and they'd take fire and they'd burn out a big, big, big
spot. They'd put fire and the fire
would spread and spread and spread. And then they would take all
the wagons and put them on burnt ground. And then when that raging fire
started coming their way, And that little boy, about Braxton
age, about your age, he would say to his daddy, Daddy, the
fire's coming. The fire's coming. What are we
going to do? And the dad said, it's all right,
son. We're on burnt ground. The fire
can't reach us. We're on burnt ground. That's
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ took all
our sin in his own body. He bared the wrath of God for
us. That's why we can say as believers, there is therefore
now no judgment to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ.